Ongoing geopolitical instability, including as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has negatively impacted, and could in the future negatively impact, the global and U.S. economies, including by causing supply chain disruptions, rising energy costs, volatility in capital markets and foreign currency exchange rates, rising interest rates and heightened cybersecurity risks. The extent to which such geopolitical instability adversely affects our business, financial condition and results of operations, as well as our liquidity and capital profile, will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and unpredictable. If geopolitical instability adversely affects us, it may also have the effect of heightening other risks related to our business.
In response to the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine that began in February 2022, the United States and other North Atlantic Treaty Organization member states, as well as non-member states, announced targeted economic sanctions on Russia. The long-term impact on our business resulting from the disruption of trade in the region caused by the conflict and associated sanctions and boycotts is uncertain at this time due to the fluid nature of the ongoing military conflict and response. The potential impacts include supply chain and logistics disruptions, financial impacts including volatility in foreign exchange and interest rates, increased inflationary pressure on raw materials and energy, and other risks, including an elevated risk of cybersecurity threats and the potential for further sanctions. We have stopped commercial operations in Russia and Belarus, which includes shipments to Customers and purchases of cobalt-60 from our Russian supplier. A long-term disruption in cobalt-60 sourced from Russia may negatively impact gamma processing capacity or increase costs in certain portions of our AST operations.